Background

• Reports commissioned from Atlantic Consultants, Sir James Smith School and Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey. All 3 suggest that the introduction of P&D will have a detrimental effect on Camelford.
• Car Park Sub Committee formed to consider the future of Churchfield Car Park
• Car Park Sub Committee recommend Churchfield Car Park be Pay and Display. Full details to follow at later meeting
• Terry Tague asked Camelford Town Council to defer decision on Churchfield Car Park to allow time to discuss the matter with all concerned.
• Ratification of Car Park Sub Committee recommendation for Pay and Display. Clerk read out 17 letters opposing Pay and Display. Proposal made that the matter be deferred to allow for consultation. Motion failed.
• Further letters from public objecting to Pay and Display. Cllr Finch stated that surplus funds from Pay and Display will be used to reduce the precept.
• Further letters from public objecting to Pay and Display. Letter also received from Rev’d Berriman asking for permits for church users. Clerk to respond that church can use adjacent field.

Summer 2005  Top

At a Parish Meeting, members of the public request a referendum regarding the future of Churchfield Car Park.

July 2005

Camelford Chamber of Commerce issued an information leaflet regarding Churchfield Car Park, asking for interested parties to vote at the referendum.

July 2005

A fact sheet is issued by Camelford Town Council regarding Churchfield Car Park. The sheet stated that Camelford Chamber of Commerce had initiated the proposed a referendum (The Chamber had suggested that members of the public initiate it at the Parish Meeting), and that the cost of this would be £2000 (the actual cost was £800.56 – see Camelford Town Council minutes of 3/11/05, pg 80/2005)

25 July 05

Churchfield Car Park becomes Pay and Display

15 Aug 05

Referendum took place. Majority of electors voted to keep Churchfield Car Park on the precept.

Cllr Finch was in attendance in her official capacity as Mayor, and stated to Eddie McCormick that Camelford Town Council did not have to take any notice of the result. Eddie McCormick told Cllr Finch that this was not democracy. Cllr Finch then called the Police who attended but no action was taken.

Sept 05

CAR is set up to address the issue of democracy, following a suggestion from Dan Rogerson, MP. CAR agrees that it will not favour any particular option for the future of Churchfield Car Park, but agreed that as a body it would lobby Camelford Town Council to consider the wishes of the electorate.

Oct – Dec 05

Chamber of Commerce and various members of the public write to Camelford Town Council expressing their opinions regarding the commencement of Pay and Display being detrimental to Camelford. Camelford Town Council do not accept that Pay and Display was the wrong decision.

CAR wrote to Camelford Town Council regarding democracy and the wishes of residents being considered.

Nov/Dec 05  

CAR contacted NCDC to ask for advice regarding Pay and Display, and the lack of public consultation. NCDC offered to set up and fund a conciliation session between CAR, Chamber of Commerce, Camelford Town Council and the Town Trust.

21 Dec 05

At Camelford Forum meeting, Cllr Finch stated that Camelford Town Council were happy to meet with CAR, but that Camelford Town Council did not think it was appropriate to pay for an expensive mediator at this stage.

Not minuted at Forum – Barry Jordan stated that he had called NCDC and had been told that the cost of conciliation was £500 per hour.

2 & 5 Jan 06   Top

Reports in local newspapers that conciliation will cost £500 per hour.

9 Jan 06

Mel Baber emailed NCDC to clarify the cost of conciliation. Mark Hall (Chief Exec, NCDC) confirmed that the cost was £500 per session (no time limit), not per hour, to be paid for by NCDC.

11 Jan 06

Mel Baber and John Pearce met with Cllr’s Finch and Grills discuss the possibility of the conciliation meeting.

17 Jan 06

At Camelford Town Council meeting, they agree to attend a conciliation meeting as proposed by CAR. However, the names of each groups representatives will need to be stated in advance

However, not minuted was Camelford Town Council’s agreement that Cllr’s Finch and Grills should attend.

18 Jan 06

Mel Baber received an email from Cllr Finch asking if another Cllr could attend if Cllr Grills was unable to. Mel Baber replied that this shouldn’t be a problem.

24 Jan 06

Representatives from CAR (Mel Baber and John Pearce), Chamber of Commerce (Terry Tague and Julian Harman), Camelford Town Council (Cllr’s Finch and Williams) and the Town Trust (Len Mabson and Peter Prior) attended a conciliation meeting facilitated by Northern Devon Community Conciliation. Mel Baber agreed with others that she would take notes and summarise the meeting, for distribution to all attendees:

17th Feb - Ideas and suggestions for how the car park can be paid for must be with Camelford Town Council by 17th February, in writing (not email).

22nd Feb - CTC will look at these ideas and suggestions at the Car Park Sub Committee meeting on 22nd February, and decide which of them are viable.

24th Feb - CTC will supply to CAR a list of ideas and suggestions that are viable. CAR and CoC will then distribute this information (in an easily readable and objective format), to residents and businesses in Camelford.

15th March - All comments relating to the above to be returned to CTC ready for their Car Park review, which will take place sometime before 31st March.

Jan 06      

Report produced by Chamber of Commerce and CAR assessing the affect Pay and Display has had on trade.

View the Report

2 Feb 06       Top

Letter received by Mel Baber from Sally Lloyd-Jones (NCDC) dated 30^th Jan. Enclosed was a document from Northern Devon Community Conciliation summarising the agreed way forward:

1. Groups and members of the public to submit comments and suggestions to Camelford Town Council
2. Car Park Sub Committee to consider these comments
3. Car Park Sub Committee to produce a list of possible proposals for the future of Churchfield Car Park
4. CAR to distribute this list of proposals to residents
5. All present would do their best to encourage residents to make their views known to Camelford Town Council
6. Camelford Town Council would consider opinions submitted before reaching a decision on the future of Churchfield Car Park

Early Feb 06

CAR and Chamber of Commerce put up posters around town encouraging residents to contact Camelford Town Council regarding Churchfield Car Park.

22 Feb 06 

John Pearce is co-opted by Camelford Town Council to participate in the Car Park Sub Committee meeting to agree a format for an ‘options form’ to be sent to each resident in Camelford.

John Pearce did not agree with the final outcome of the form at this meeting.

2 Mar 06      Top

At Camelford Town Council meeting, the options form is amended again and then ratified.

3 Mar 06

CAR representatives help to put the options forms in envelopes for distribution to each household in Camelford, not each resident. Clare Ireland and Eddie McCormick ask the Town Clerk how each resident can ‘vote’ if only one per household is being sent out. The Clerk confirms that each resident can put a tick on the form (resulting in multiple ticks in some cases), although there is no mention of this on the form, and this was not what was agreed at the previous Car Park Sub Committee meeting.

Options forms are sent to each household.

March 06   

Julian Harman and the Liberal Club (Camelford), offer to have sealed boxes on their premises where residents could drop off options forms. Boxes are then placed on these premises, and residents use them.

March 2006

CAR (Eddie McCormick) received several telephone calls from residents asking how more than one person can vote on only one form. Eddie McCormick clarifies that multiple residents can tick the same form. CAR puts up posters around town providing this information.

CAR has also been advised by members of the public that they contacted the Clerk regarding the same issue and were told to photocopy the original form to produce as many copies as they needed.

7 March 06

Terry Tague is contacted by the Clerk to advise the posters around town are political and that the sealed boxes cannot be used as all responses must come direct to the council.  However, no mention is made of the responses that Cllr Elford is collecting at the local Spar shop.

Eddie McCormick contacted the Clerk to clarify the issue. An email conversation follows.

The boxes were subsequently removed and Julian Harman returned all options forms he had in individual sealed envelopes to CTC.

Approx 12 Mar 06

It becomes apparent that no options forms have been sent to Dark Lane or Tregoodwell. (Clare and Cllr Ireland live in Dark Lane, Frank Samuel lives in Tregoodwell).

Cllr Ireland and Eddie McComick visit Camelford Town Council offices and are advised by the Clerk that these addresses have had forms sent. The Clerk advised Eddie McCormick and Cllr Ireland to photocopy the options form if needed.

13 Mar 06

Cllr Ireland contacted the Clerk to advise that options forms had still not been received at some addresses in Dark Lane. The Clerk sent a copy of the form by email to Cllr Ireland.

15 Mar 06

At Camelford Forum meeting, Mel Baber asked if John Pearce would be attending the next Car Park Sub Committee meeting on 20^th March as his name was not on any of the distributed documents for the forthcoming meeting. Cllr’s Finch and Williams advised that he could not as he was only invited to the Car Park Sub Committee meeting of 22/2/06.

However, immediately following this meeting Cllr Lush passed a copy of Camelford Town Council Standing Orders to Cllr’s Finch and Williams to clarify the issue of John Pearce’s attendance. Cllr’s Finch and Williams then confirmed that John Pearce would be allowed to attend the Car Park Sub Committee meeting as they would need a resolution by 4 councillors to remove him from the group.

20 Mar 06     Top

Car Park Sub Committee (with John Pearce, although his name did not appear on any agenda), met to discuss the results of the options forms and formulate a recommendation for Camelford Town Council. John Pearce asked why he had not been provided with the relevant paperwork in advance as the other attendees had. The Clerk advised that they must have got lost in the post, but then recalled hand delivering them. The Clerk could offer no explanation why John Pearce had not received the papers. Cllr Pierce stated that any surplus from Pay and Display will be used to fund other projects (contradicting Cllr Finch’s statement in  Camelford Town Council minutes pg 41/2005)

The results to the options forms were as follows:

Option 1, Keep P&D, 30.74%

Option 2, Keep P&D, but sell permits for businesses and residents, 13.9%

Option 3, Charge 20p for the first hour and sell permits as in option 2, 9.16%

Option 4, Free half hour parking in 10 bays, keep the rest as P&D, 3.7%

Option 5, Return to a free car park with costs met by the precept, 42.5%

The Car Park Sub Committee added all the ‘keep Pay and Display’ results together and produced the following statistics:

To keep P&D, 57.5%

To return to the precept, 42.5%

In light of this, Car Park Sub Committee recommend that Camelford Town Council ratify Option 2.

John Pearce stated (x4), that the majority of respondents favoured option 5. The remainder of Car Park Sub Committee did not share this opinion. They insisted that options 1 -4 be counted together.

John Pearce asked (x3), why the 3^rd least popular option was being recommended.

John Pearce also commented that the form was not objective as the costs quoted were inaccurate and misleading.

21 Mar 06    

Camelford Town Council met and were to discuss the results of the options forms. However, Cllr Lush asked (under Standing Order 82) that this matter be deferred until councillors had had adequate time to read and digest the relevant documents.

March 06

CAR, Cllr Ireland and Cllr Clark requested sight of the returned options forms, but have been denied access and referred to the Data Protection Act. The Clerk has also advised that as ‘returning officer’ he has not allowed any other person to see the returned forms, including members of Camelford Town Council.

6^th April 06

Camelford Town Council ratified Option 2, but agreed to wait until cost of Parking Places order is known before taking further action

6^th April 06    Top

Proposal passed that Options Forms be destroyed.